INTRODUÇÃO: A vivência de maus tratos na infância é apontada como um fator de risco para o desenvolvimento de comportamentos antissociais e traços psicopáticos. Estudos sugerem alterações estruturais de substância branca (SB) cerebral em vítimas de maus tratos, que podem estar subjacentes a sintomas psiquiátricos e dificuldades cognitivas. OBJETIVO: Investigar o comportamento social de adolescentes vítimas de maus tratos (A-VMT), através da comparação de suas habilidades sociais e traços de psicopatia com um grupo controle (GC), e de possíveis correlações destas medidas com os diferentes tipos de maus tratos e com o volume de SB cerebral. MÉTODO: Foram avaliados 67 A-VMT e 41 adolescentes do GC através do Questionário de Traumas na Infância (QUESI), da Psychopathy Checklist Youth Version (PCL-YV) e do Inventário de Habilidades Sociais para Adolescentes (IHSA). Também foram adquiridas imagens anatômicas cerebrais através de equipamento de ressonância magnética (1,5T Siemens Sonata) e realizadas análises de morfometria baseada em voxels (VBM). RESULTADOS: Os A-VMT apresentaram maior intensidade de traços psicopáticos e mais déficits de habilidades sociais que o GC. A negligência emocional foi a forma de maus tratos que mais influenciou a presença de traços de psicopatia e que mais associou-se a prejuízos de habilidades sociais específicas. O volume de SB de regiões do hemisfério esquerdo (giro angular, precuneus e lobo parietal inferior) correlacionouse negativamente com o fator afetivo da PCL:YV. Além disso, foram encontradas correlações positivas entre o volume de SB de regiões de hemisfério direito com fatores de psicopatia: o volume do lobo parietal superior direito correlacionou-se com características interpessoais e o do giro pré-central com o fator antissocial. CONCLUSÃO: Os A-VMT apresentaram déficits do comportamento social quando comparados ao GC. O volume de SB de áreas cerebrais envolvidas no processamento de informações sociais e reconhecimento de emoções se correlacionou com traços específicos da psicopatia. A vivencia de maus tratos na infância pode contribuir para déficits na cognição social, o que por sua vez, pode predispor esta vulnerável população a alguns comportamentos antissociais / Introduction: Child maltreatment is considered a risk factor for the development of antisocial behaviors and psychopathic traits. Studies suggest that specific white matter tracts may be vulnerable to child maltreatment and their alterations can be associated with psychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits. Aim: Compare social skills and psychopathic traits between maltreated adolescents (MTA) and a control group, as well as their possible correlations with different types of maltreatment and white matter volumes.. Method: The sample was composed by 67 MTA and 41 youths from the CG. Brain images were acquired by magnetic resonance imaging equipment (1,5T Siemens Sonata) for voxel-based morphometry analyses. The clinical evaluation was carried out using Childhood Trauma Inventory (CTQ), Social Skills Inventory for Adolescents (SSIA) and The Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV). Results: MTA presented more psychopathic traits and social skills deficits than the CG. Emotional neglect was the only maltreatment subtype with significant effect on psychopathic traits, and it was correlated with specific social skills deficits. The white matter volumes of left hemisphere regions (angular gyrus, precuneus and inferior parietal lobe) were negatively correlated with PCL:YV affective factor scores. Moreover, positive correlations between white matter volume of right hemisphere areas (superior parietal lobe and precentral gyrus) and specific psychopathic traits (antisocial and interpersonal) were found. Conclusion: MTA presented social deficits when compared to CG. The white matter volume of brain areas associated with social information processing and emotion recognition was correlated with specific psychopathic traits. Child maltreatment may contribute to social cognition deficits and predispose this vulnerable population to psychopathic traits

Buscou-se investigar se a aprendizagem social pode facilitar a ocorrência de respostas supersticiosas, selecionadas pela relação acidental com eventos ambientais contíguos ao responder. Em uma atividade de computador, participantes podiam clicar em um mouse e havia um galão de água na tela que poderia encher-se de acordo com o esquema de reforçamento programado. O Experimento 1, realizado com oito estudantes universitários, foi composto por três sessões (delineamento ABA), alternando entre condições nas quais o participante atuou sozinho ou na presença de outro participante que também realizou a tarefa no mesmo momento. O segundo participante, porém, era um participante confederado com a experimentadora e respondeu à tarefa de forma previamente treinada. Os participantes foram expostos, em cada sessão, a esquemas de tempo variável de 15s (VT15s) e extinção (EXT) que foram alternados entre si a cada dois minutos. O participante confederado foi exposto aos esquemas de intervalo variável (VI15s) e EXT, e respondeu de forma constante em ambos os esquemas. Manipulou-se duas variáveis: o esquema de contiguidade e a exposição a outro indivíduo comportando-se na tarefa. Efeitos sobre as taxas de respostas dos participantes foram medidos. Não houve diferenciação do responder em função da mudança do esquema, porém houve diferença significativa entre as médias de respostas nas sessões individuais e conjuntas, permitindo a conclusão de que a manipulação da variável social produziu um efeito sobre as respostas. O Experimento 2 manipulou apenas a variável social. O esquema de reforçamento foi mantido em VT15s durante a sessão inteira em todo o experimento. Trabalhou-se com dois grupos de participantes, um no qual os participantes realizavam a sessão individualmente e outro grupo no qual outros participantes trabalhavam na sessão juntamente com um segundo participante, que, tal como no primeiro estudo, era um confederado que respondia de forma constante e previamente treinada, sendo exposto ao esquema de VI15s durante a sessão inteira. Observou-se uma diferença significativa entre as médias de respostas entre os dois grupos, o que mostra o efeito da variável manipulada. Além disso, observou-se uma variância significativamente maior das taxas de respostas dos participantes no grupo sem confederado em comparação com as dos participantes do grupo com confederado, que mostra um efeito de interação entre a variável social e o esquema de VT. O presente trabalho acrescenta dados novos tanto para a literatura de aprendizagem social quanto para a literatura de comportamento supersticioso, ao constatar que a variável social foi responsável por diminuir a variação das taxas de respostas de participantes expostos a um esquema independente, que, além disso foi independente desde o início da tarefa. Ademais confirmou-se achados sobre efeitos de facilitação social, sobretudo em uma situação de esquema não-contingente / The purpose of the present work was to investigate if social learning may facilitate occurrence of superstitious responses, selected by accidental relation with contiguous environmental events. In a computer activity, participants could click with a mouse and there was a water gallon on the screen that could fill itself according to reinforcement schedule programmed. The First Experiment was done with eight college students. It was composed by three sessions (ABA design), alternating between conditions in which the participant acted alone or in the presence of another participant, who also performed the task at the same moment. The second participant, however, was confederate with the experimenter and responded to the task in a previously trained manner. Participants were exposed, in each session, to 15s variable time schedules (VT15s) and extinction (EXT) which were alternated between each other every two minutes. The confederate participant was exposed to variable interval (VI15s) and exctinction (EXT) schedules and responded steadily in both schedules. Two variables were manipulated: the contiguity schedule and the exposure to another individual behaving on the task. Effects on participants rates of responding were measured. There was no differentiation in responding due to schedule change, however there was significant difference between mean rates of responses in individual sessions and in joint sessions, allowing the conclusion that the social variable manipulation had an effect on responses. The Second Experiment manipulated only the social variable. The schedule of reinforcement was maintained VT15s during the whole session in all the experiment. There were two groups of participants, one in which participants performed the session individually and another in which other participants performed in a session together with another participant. This participant, as in the First Experiment, was a confederate that responded steadily and in a previously trained manner, and was exposed to a VI15s schedule It was observed a significant difference between means of response of each group, which shows the effect of the manipulated variable. Moreover there was a significant higher variance in response rates of the individual group participants in comparison with response rate of the group with a confederate, which shows an effect of interaction between the social variable and the VT schedule. The present work adds new data to social learning literature as much as to superstitious behavior literature, upon verifying that the social variable was responsible for diminishing variation in response rates of participants exposed to an independent schedule, which beyond that, was independent since the beginning of the task. Furthermore it confirmed some findings of social facilitation effects, especially in a situation of non-contingent schedule

Buscou-se investigar se a aprendizagem social pode facilitar a ocorrência de respostas supersticiosas, selecionadas pela relação acidental com eventos ambientais contíguos ao responder. Em uma atividade de computador, participantes podiam clicar em um mouse e havia um galão de água na tela que poderia encher-se de acordo com o esquema de reforçamento programado. O Experimento 1, realizado com oito estudantes universitários, foi composto por três sessões (delineamento ABA), alternando entre condições nas quais o participante atuou sozinho ou na presença de outro participante que também realizou a tarefa no mesmo momento. O segundo participante, porém, era um participante confederado com a experimentadora e respondeu à tarefa de forma previamente treinada. Os participantes foram expostos, em cada sessão, a esquemas de tempo variável de 15s (VT15s) e extinção (EXT) que foram alternados entre si a cada dois minutos. O participante confederado foi exposto aos esquemas de intervalo variável (VI15s) e EXT, e respondeu de forma constante em ambos os esquemas. Manipulou-se duas variáveis: o esquema de contiguidade e a exposição a outro indivíduo comportando-se na tarefa. Efeitos sobre as taxas de respostas dos participantes foram medidos. Não houve diferenciação do responder em função da mudança do esquema, porém houve diferença significativa entre as médias de respostas nas sessões individuais e conjuntas, permitindo a conclusão de que a manipulação da variável social produziu um efeito sobre as respostas. O Experimento 2 manipulou apenas a variável social. O esquema de reforçamento foi mantido em VT15s durante a sessão inteira em todo o experimento. Trabalhou-se com dois grupos de participantes, um no qual os participantes realizavam a sessão individualmente e outro grupo no qual outros participantes trabalhavam na sessão juntamente com um segundo participante, que, tal como no primeiro estudo, era um confederado que respondia de forma constante e previamente treinada, sendo exposto ao esquema de VI15s durante a sessão inteira. Observou-se uma diferença significativa entre as médias de respostas entre os dois grupos, o que mostra o efeito da variável manipulada. Além disso, observou-se uma variância significativamente maior das taxas de respostas dos participantes no grupo sem confederado em comparação com as dos participantes do grupo com confederado, que mostra um efeito de interação entre a variável social e o esquema de VT. O presente trabalho acrescenta dados novos tanto para a literatura de aprendizagem social quanto para a literatura de comportamento supersticioso, ao constatar que a variável social foi responsável por diminuir a variação das taxas de respostas de participantes expostos a um esquema independente, que, além disso foi independente desde o início da tarefa. Ademais confirmou-se achados sobre efeitos de facilitação social, sobretudo em uma situação de esquema não-contingente / The purpose of the present work was to investigate if social learning may facilitate occurrence of superstitious responses, selected by accidental relation with contiguous environmental events. In a computer activity, participants could click with a mouse and there was a water gallon on the screen that could fill itself according to reinforcement schedule programmed. The First Experiment was done with eight college students. It was composed by three sessions (ABA design), alternating between conditions in which the participant acted alone or in the presence of another participant, who also performed the task at the same moment. The second participant, however, was confederate with the experimenter and responded to the task in a previously trained manner. Participants were exposed, in each session, to 15s variable time schedules (VT15s) and extinction (EXT) which were alternated between each other every two minutes. The confederate participant was exposed to variable interval (VI15s) and exctinction (EXT) schedules and responded steadily in both schedules. Two variables were manipulated: the contiguity schedule and the exposure to another individual behaving on the task. Effects on participants rates of responding were measured. There was no differentiation in responding due to schedule change, however there was significant difference between mean rates of responses in individual sessions and in joint sessions, allowing the conclusion that the social variable manipulation had an effect on responses. The Second Experiment manipulated only the social variable. The schedule of reinforcement was maintained VT15s during the whole session in all the experiment. There were two groups of participants, one in which participants performed the session individually and another in which other participants performed in a session together with another participant. This participant, as in the First Experiment, was a confederate that responded steadily and in a previously trained manner, and was exposed to a VI15s schedule It was observed a significant difference between means of response of each group, which shows the effect of the manipulated variable. Moreover there was a significant higher variance in response rates of the individual group participants in comparison with response rate of the group with a confederate, which shows an effect of interaction between the social variable and the VT schedule. The present work adds new data to social learning literature as much as to superstitious behavior literature, upon verifying that the social variable was responsible for diminishing variation in response rates of participants exposed to an independent schedule, which beyond that, was independent since the beginning of the task. Furthermore it confirmed some findings of social facilitation effects, especially in a situation of non-contingent schedule

Militärdienst in Kriegsgebieten prägt das Leben von Millionen von Menschen weltweit. Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, besser zu verstehen wie und weshalb junge Männer Praktiken und Strategien von Armeen ausgesetzt sind, und wie diese Erfahrungen ihr langfristiges Verhalten prägen. Die Arbeit enthält drei eigenständige Essays, die diese Themen jeweils theoretisch als auch empirisch behandeln. Die empirische Analyse nutzt selbst erhobene Umfragedaten von 760 angolanischen Veteranen, detaillierte Einblicke in den lokalen Kontext und den angolanischen Bürgerkrieg als ein natürliches Experiment um kausale Mechanismen zu identifizieren. Kapitel 2 argumentiert, dass ein nichtstaatlicher Kriegsakteur ähnlich wie ein Staatsakteur in der Lage sein kann lokal Steuern zu erheben und, dass ein solcher Akteur Wehrpflicht zur Rekrutierung einsetzt. Kapitel 3 offenbart, dass Soldaten, die mehr in lokaler `governance` mit der Armee involviert sind, in der Nachkriegszeit im Durchschnitt mehr zur Herstellung öffentlicher Gütern beitragen. Mehr Erfahrung mit sozialer Kooperation stimuliert die Teilnahme in Planungsprozessen, während eine Verschiebung der politischen Präferenzen Beiträge zur Bereitstellung der Güter fördert. Kapitel 4 zeigt, dass Erlebnisse sexueller Gewalt gegen Zivilistinnen auf lange Sicht das Risiko von Gewalttaten gegen die eigene Partnerin erhöhen. Der Grund ist eine nachhaltige Reduzierung psychologischer Barrieren gegenüber Gewalt gegen Frauen. Die Arbeit trägt zu mehreren Literaturen zu den langfristigen Ursprüngen menschlichen Verhaltens und der Mechanik und Folgen gewaltsamer Konflikte bei. Die Befunde stellen konventionelle Rekrutierungsmodelle in Frage, vorherrschende Theorien häuslicher Gewalt, sowie unser Verständnis davon, wie Krieg lokal Institutionen verändert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen neue Wege auf, wie Entwicklungspolitik kriegsbedingte Verhaltensmuster angehen und sich zunutze machen kann, um dadurch mehr Kooperation und weniger Gewalt zu schaffen. / Military service in conflict zones strongly marks the lives of millions of people across the world. The objective of this thesis is to contribute to understanding how and why young men are exposed to practices and policies by armed groups, and how these experiences affect their behavior in the long run. The thesis presents three self-contained essays that all address this objective theoretically and empirically. The empirical analysis relies on primary survey data from 760 Angolan veterans, uses deep insights into the local context and exploits the Angolan Civil War as a natural experiment to identify causal mechanisms. Chapter 2 argues that a non-state armed actor may – like a state actor – have the ability to tax a local population and will choose conscription as its primary recruitment policy. Chapter 3 exposes that former soldiers who were more involved in local governance during the war are significantly more likely to participate in collective public good production more than a decade after the end of the war. Gaining experience with social cooperation increases contributions to organizing public goods, while a shift in political preferences fosters participation in their delivery. Chapter 4 shows that exposure to sexual violence by armed groups significantly increases an individual’s long-term propensity to commit violence against an intimate partner. This effect is underpinned by a reduction of psychological barriers to violence against women. The thesis contributes to several literatures on the long-run individual-level origins of human behavior and on the conduct and consequences of armed conflict. The findings challenge conventional models of rebel recruitment, dominant theories of domestic violence and existing knowledge of how war affects local institutions. The findings can also help policymakers to tackle and leverage long-run impacts of conflict on behavior, in order to devise new policies for more cooperative and less violent societies.

This thesis incorporates three studies that analyze how information is presented in various contexts, how these different modes of presentation affect decision makers’ perceptions and how to improve communication of information to eliminate distortions. Chapter 1 features a scenario where experts make inferences given different presentations of a regression analysis, a widely used statistical method. Chapter 2 introduces an experience-based presentation mode and tests its effectiveness on decision makers with varying statistical abilities, across multiple probabilistic tasks. Chapter 3 demonstrates the effects of presentation mode and the number of available options on the amounts and distributions of donations to NGOs and their campaigns. Overall, the findings suggest that presentation mode is an important determinant of judgments and decisions, and they can be restructured to improve the accuracy of inferences. / Esta tesis incluye tres estudios que analizan cómo la información se presenta en varios contextos, cómo estos diferentes modos de presentación influyen las percepciones de los tomadores de decisiones y cómo mejorar la comunicación de la información para eliminar distorsiones. Capítulo 1 analiza una situación donde expertos hacen inferencias utilizando diferentes presentaciones de un análisis de regresión, un método de estadística ampliamente utilizado. Capítulo 2 introduce un modo de presentación basado en experiencia y pone a prueba su eficacia a través de múltiples problemas probabilísticas. Capítulo 3 demuestra los efectos del modo de presentación y el número de opciones disponibles sobre las cantidades y la distribución de las donaciones a las ONG y sus campañas. En general, los resultados sugieren que el modo de presentación es un determinante importante de las percepciones y decisiones, y pueden ser reestructuradas para mejorar la precisión de las inferencias.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 2005. / Typescript (photocopy).

Dans ce travail de thèse, nous avons évalué les effets neurotoxiques multigénérationnels de l’exposition des mères F0 gestantes et allaitantes aux polychlorobiphényles non-dioxin-like indicateurs (PCB-NDLi), à un profil mimant l'exposition humaine à partir de poissons contaminés, sur le développement et le comportement, y compris les réponses émotionnelles et les interactions sociales, des deux générations F1 et F2 des souris mâles et femelles, à différentes phases de leur ontogenèse. Deux faibles doses des PCB-NDLi : (i) la DJT, qui est de 10 ng/kg/j, et (ii) une dose environnementale de 1000 ng/kg/j, ont été administrés par accès libre aux souris mères F0. En fonction de la modalité d’exposition des parents F1 aux PCB, 4 groupes de génération F2 ont été obtenus, en croisant (i) des pères F1 exposés à des mères F1 non exposées, (ii) des mères F1 exposées à des pères F1 non exposés, (iii) des deux parents F1 exposés, ou (iv) des deux parents F1 non exposés (témoins), aux PCB en période périnatale. Nos résultats ont montré que les mâles adultes de la génération F1 ont manifesté un comportement dépressif-like ; alors que les mâles F2, issus uniquement des pères F1 exposés aux PCB, ont exhibé un comportement anti-dépressif-like, ce que suggère que l’exposition périnatale des souris F1 aux PCB-NDLi a induit une altération multigénérationnelle d’origine parentale du comportement de la résignation, et ce d’une façon sexe dépendante. De même, une altération sexe-dépendante de l’anxiété, a été détectée chez la génération F1 exposées durant la période périnatale aux PCB-NDLi comme uniquement les souris mâles d’âge moyen F1 ont développé un phénotype anxieux qui a été transmis aux souris mâles d’âge moyen F2, via leurs pères F1. En outre, une altération multigénérationnelle du comportement social a été détectée chez les souris mâles et femelles F1 et F2. D’une façon remarquable, chez la génération F2, des altérations comportementales dépendantes à la fois du sexe et de la dose, ont été trouvées, malgré l’absence d’effets chez leurs parents F1, effets qui dépendaient également de l’origine parentale, tels que la diminution significative du niveau de la préférence pour la nouveauté sociale chez les souris mâles F2, issues uniquement des mères F1 périnatallement exposées à la dose 10 ng/kg de PCB. Le dosage des biomarqueurs chez les souris d’âge moyen de la génération F1 a révélé une altération de nombreux paramètres biochimiques, y compris une augmentation du niveau de corticostérone et de l’activité de l’acétylcholinestérase / In this study, we evaluated the multigenerational neurotoxic effects of gestational and lactational exposure of F0 female mice to a representative mixture of the six indicator non-dioxin-like-polychlorinated biphenyls (NDL-PCBs) at environmentally low doses, a profile that closely mimics human exposure to contaminated fish. The tolerable day intake (TDI) of 10 ng/kg/day and a higher environmental dose of 1000 ng/kg/day were administered by free access to F0 mothers during pregnancy and lactation. Afterwards, the development and behavior, including emotional responses and social interactions, of the two F1 and F2 generations of Swiss male and female mice at different phases of their ontogenesis, were assessed. Depending on the mode of exposure of F1 parents to PCBs, four F2 generation groups were obtained by crossing (i) F1 fathers perinatally exposed with unexposed F1 mothers, (ii) F1 mothers perinatally exposed with unexposed F1 fathers, (iii) both F1 parents perinatally exposed, or (iv) both F1 parents perinatally unexposed (controls), to PCBs. Our results showed that F1 adult males showed depressive-like behavior whereas F2 adult males, coming from F1 mothers, perinatally exposed to PCBs, exhibited anti-depressive-like behavior. This result suggested an induction of a multigenerational alteration that was of parental origin, on the resignation behavior in a sex-dependent manner. Similarly, sex-selective anxious behavior was detected in F1 middle-aged males perinatally exposed to PCBs, which was transmissible to F2 middle-aged males, via their F1 fathers. Furthermore, a multigenerational alteration of social behavior was found in F1 and F2 male and female mice. Remarkably, some behavioral alterations in F2 generation were found, despite of the absence of effects in their F1 parents, such as a significant decrease in the level of preference for social novelty in F2 male mice, coming from F1 mothers perinataly exposed to 10 ng/kg of NDL-PCBs. The biomarker assays in F1 middle-aged mice revealed an alteration in many biochemical markers, including increased corticosterone levels and acetylcholinesterase activity in male as well as females.

No description available.

O objetivo desta pesquisa, de delineamento quase-experimental, foi verificar os efeitos da intervenção motora em três diferentes contextos - abordagens individual no domicílio (ID), individual na creche (IC) e grupo na creche (GC) - no desenvolvimento motor e social de crianças com atrasos motores, na faixa etária entre 06 e 18 meses de idade, residentes em bairros da periferia do município de Porto Alegre/RS, assistidas por unidades básicas de saúde vinculadas ao Hospital Moinhos de Vento e amparadas por creches comunitárias conveniadas com a prefeitura. Descrições do comportamento de cada criança antes e após o período interventivo e características do seu ambiente domiciliar foram associadas ao seu desempenho motor. A amostra desta pesquisa foi voluntária, selecionada de forma não-probabilística e intencional. A partir de uma população de 96 crianças avaliadas, 40 apresentaram percentil de desempenho motor abaixo de 25%, e destas, 32 crianças finalizaram as 24 sessões de intervenção motora, no período de 12 semanas. Cada grupo interventivo ficou assim distribuído: ID n=12, IC n=7 e GC n=13. Os instrumentos utilizados neste estudo foram a escala comportamental das Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID-II), a Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) e o questionário Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development Self-Report (AHEMD-SR). O programa de intervenção, realizado entre maio e novembro de 2007, foi constituído por atividades lúdicas com o intuito de alongar e adequar o tônus muscular, estimular o acompanhamento visual e auditivo, controlar as posturas em diferentes circunstâncias, manipular objetos e deslocar-se, a fim de oportunizar às crianças a experimentação de novas condições de movimento e a superação de desafios. Todos os dados coletados foram analisados através do programa estatístico SPSS para Windows, versão 13.0. Para estas análises, o nível de significância adotado foi p≤0,05. O resultado do Teste de Normalidade Shapiro-Wilk, aplicado nos escores de desempenho motor na primeira avaliação, sugere que os dados não se apresentaram normalmente distribuídos (p=0,04). Desta forma, foram utilizados testes não-paramétricos. Na comparação das variáveis nos dois períodos avaliativos (pré e pós intervenção), o Teste de Kruskal-Wallis foi utilizado e, na presença de diferença significativa entre os grupos, o Teste Complementar de Mann-Whitney. Na comparação do percentil de desempenho motor de cada grupo ao longo do tempo (antes e após o período interventivo), com a finalidade de verificar o efeito do programa de intervenção motora, aplicou-se o Teste de Wilcoxon. Na descrição dos resultados, utilizou-se a mediana e a amplitude interquartílica (P25-P75). Os resultados evidenciaram mudanças significativas no desempenho motor nos três diferentes grupos (ID p=0,014, IC p=0,028 e GC p=0,005), e suportam a hipótese de que crianças com atrasos motores participantes do programa de intervenção apresentariam incremento no seu desempenho motor quando comparadas à avaliação inicial. As observações do comportamento das crianças desta amostra corroboram o pressuposto de que elas apresentariam, após a intervenção, incremento no seu desempenho social. A análise da variação dos escores totais de oportunidades de estimulação no lar, utilizando-se o Teste Qui-quadrado de McNemar, não evidenciou mudanças estatisticamente significativas nos diferentes grupos do estudo (p=1,000), rejeitando o pressuposto de que o programa de intervenção teria impacto positivo no contexto familiar, favorecendo mudanças significativas de engajamento nas diferentes atividades infantis rotineiras, bem como nas atitudes familiares frente às restrições destas crianças. Estratégias interventivas vinculadas ao contexto do desenvolvimento de crianças com atrasos motores promovem incremento em seu desempenho motor e social, e a identificação da criança de risco permite o acompanhamento precoce e a compreensão de suas necessidades. Estes achados sugerem a necessidade de programas de intervenção para famílias de baixa renda que otimizem as oportunidades de estimulação também no ambiente domiciliar. / The purpose of the present study, of quasi-experimental design, was to verify the effects of a motor intervention in three different contexts - individual at home (ID), individual at the daycare (IC) and in groups at the daycare (GC) - on motor and social development of children with motor delays, between 06 and 18 month-old, living in the suburbs of the city of Porto Alegre/RS, who were assisted by basic units of health affiliated to Moinhos de Vento Hospital and supported by communitarian daycare centers linked to the City Hall. Descriptions of the behavior of each child before and after the interventive period and characteristics of their home environment were associated to their motor performance. The sample for this research was voluntary, selected in a non probabilistic and intentional form. From a total of 96 assessed children, 40 presented percentile ranking below 25%, and, of those, 32 finished the 24 sessions of motor intervention, in a period of 12 weeks. Each interventive group was thus distributed: ID n=12, IC n=7 and GC n=13. The instruments used in this study were the behavior rating scale of Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID-II), the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) and the inventory Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development Self-Report (AHEMD-SR). The intervention program, carried out between May and November of 2007, was composed by playful activities which were planned to stretch and adjust the muscular tonus, to stimulate visual and auditory accompaniment, to control postures in different circumstances, to manipulate objects and to move around, in order to allow the children to experiment with new movement conditions and the overcoming of challenges. All the collected data were analyzed through the SPSS statistical program for Windows, version 13.0. In all the analyses, it was considered a significance level of p≤0,05. The result of the Shapiro-Wilk Normality Test, applied in the scores of motor performance in the first evaluation, suggested that the data was a non-normal distribution (p=0,04). Thus, non-parametric tests were used. In the comparison of the variables in the two evaluative periods (pre and post intervention), the Kruskal-Wallis’ Test was used and, when this test demonstrated significant differences between groups, the Mann-Whitney’s U Test was used. In the comparison of the percentile of motor performance of each group throughout time (before and after the interventive period), intending to verify the effect of the motor intervention program, the Wilcoxon Test was applied. In the description of the results, the median and the interquartilic range were used (P25-P75). The results showed significant improvement in the motor performance in the three different groups (ID p=0,014, IC p=0,028 and GC p=0,005), supporting the conviction that children with motor delays taking part in the intervention program would present increase in their motor performance when compared to the initial evaluation. The observations of children’s behavior from this sample corroborate with the conviction that they would show, after the intervention, increase in their social performance. The analysis of the variation of the total scores for opportunities of home stimulation, using McNemar Test, did not show evidence of significant statistical changes in the different study groups (p=1,000), rejecting the conviction that the intervention program would have a positive impact in the home environment, favoring significant changes of engagement in different infant routine activities, as well as in a shift in family attitude towards these children’s restrictions. Interventive strategies tied to the context of development of children with motor delays promote increase in their motor and social performance, and the identification of a risk child allows early accompaniment and the understanding of their necessities. These findings suggest the need of programs of intervention for low income families who also optimize the chances of stimulation in the home environment.

Scouting is a lifestyle. Scouts are mates, friends and the community of people who share similar values. Growing up in a scout section is to seize the chance to live fully, to be active and find their own place in the world. Scouting is an offered opportunity for developping not only themselves but also their surroundings. Scouts try to create a better world by taking their lives into their own hands. Scouting works universally on the personality development of children and young people, through games, experiences, activities and other work. The aim of this work is to explore the issues shaping the social climate in scout sections in relation to the leadership style of the group. The theoretical part provides general information about scouting, pedagogical - psychological aspects of social groups, group leadership styles, influences on the formation of the social climate in the group with regard to the specificity of the scout groups. The empirical part shows leadership styles group care centers in a scout camp in the center cup and what their relationship to the social climate of the scout groups and raids is.